9 Best Colour Printer For Photos | Stop Wasting Ink

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The PRO-200S is a dedicated photo printer — no scanner, no fax, no compromise. Its eight dye-based ink cartridges (including photo black, grey, and a dedicated red) deliver a colour gamut that extends beyond sRGB, making reds and skin tones look richer than any four- or six-ink machine can manage. The 2 picolitre droplet system produces virtually grain-free highlights on glossy paper, and borderless printing runs from 3.5×3.5 inches all the way up to 13×19 inches (A3+).

Print speed is respectable for a pro-level unit: a bordered 8×10 takes about 53 seconds, and an A3+ sheet finishes in 90 seconds. The 3.0-inch colour LCD gives you clear ink-level monitoring, but the initial WiFi setup can be finicky if you already have another Canon printer on the same network. Once connected, the wireless connection stays stable.

The trade-off is size and cost of consumables. The PRO-200S weighs 32 pounds and sits deep on a desk — this is not a space-saver. Cartridges hold less ink than some users expect; the black cartridge can run half-empty after roughly 30 full-bleed prints. For serious photographers printing portfolios or gallery pieces, the results justify the spend, but casual users will find the ongoing ink cost heavy.

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The XP-980 strikes an unusual balance: it packs a 6-color Claria Photo HD ink set (CMYK plus light cyan and light magenta) and a 5760 x 1440 dpi print head into an all-in-one chassis with scanner and copier. That six-ink architecture eliminates the banding and coarse-looking skies that four-ink printers produce, especially on 8×10 and 11×17 glossy prints. The printer delivers a 4×6 borderless photo in as fast as 11 seconds — genuinely fast enough to print party snapshots in real time.

Paper handling is the XP-980’s standout feature. Separate trays for plain paper and photo paper let you switch between document runs and glossy output without reloading. The rear feed accepts thick fine-art media up to 300 gsm, and the 4.3-inch colour touchscreen makes navigation intuitive. The Epson Smart Panel app handles setup and control from your phone, and Wi-Fi Direct allows router-free printing when you’re away from your network.

The main drawbacks centre on reliability quirks. Some users report that the 4×6 label feed creeps crooked, and the 11×17 paper path is rear-only, making it slow for multiple sheets. Ink can dry on the print head after a few days of non-use, forcing a cleaning cycle that consumes roughly a third of each cartridge. For regular printing, this is manageable; for occasional use, the waste adds up quickly.

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The Envy Photo 7975 is HP’s answer to the household that prints school projects, homework, and 4×6 photos from the same machine. Its AI web-print feature strips out ads and blank pages from web content before printing — a genuinely useful detail for recipe pages and trip itineraries. The separate photo tray keeps glossy paper loaded without swapping it in and out of the main paper feed, so you can print a borderless 4×6 without changing media.

Colour output is bright and saturated for a four-ink printer, though it lacks the subtlety of a six- or eight-ink system. Skin tones look slightly punchy rather than neutral, which many family users prefer for snapshots. Setup through the HP Smart app typically finishes in under ten minutes, and the Wi-Fi connection holds reliably once configured. The 3-month Instant Ink trial is included, which can lower running costs if you print regularly.

The reliability record is mixed. A number of units develop false “out of paper” errors or persistent jams after a few weeks of use, and the “quiet mode” cannot be disabled, which slows print speed. The print head also tends to show faint horizontal banding on large solid areas — a common complaint on four-ink designs. For families printing casual snapshots, the convenience and low entry cost outweigh the occasional quality hiccup.

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The Liene M200 is a dye-sublimation printer designed for mobility. With a built-in rechargeable battery that handles roughly 40 prints per charge, you can print 4×6 snapshots at a family gathering or on a road trip without hunting for a wall outlet. The internal WiFi hotspot creates a direct connection to your phone in about three seconds, bypassing home network issues entirely.

Print quality from the dye-sub process is consistent: colours are clear, prints are water- and smudge-proof due to the protective overcoat layer, and there is zero risk of ink drying or nozzle clogs. The supplied 20-sheet starter pack and one ink cartridge get you going immediately. The magnetic cassette holder on top is a small but thoughtful design touch that stops the paper tray from cluttering your workspace.

The privacy concern is serious. The Liene app uploads your photos to servers in Beijing, the US, Singapore, and Germany — there is no opt-out. Unlike HP, Canon, or Epson, which process images locally, this system stores your prints indefinitely. If you print sensitive images, this should give you pause. The app also requires you to disable mobile data during connection, and custom-frame editing is not supported — only pre-loaded borders are available.

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The iDPRT CP4100 brings dye-sublimation printing to a desktop-friendly size at a price point well below most mainstream photo printers. The kit includes 108 sheets of photo paper and two ribbon cartridges, so you can start printing immediately without buying consumables. Each 4×6 print takes about 60 seconds and is laminated with a protective layer that resists fingerprints and fading.

The “HeyPhoto” app offers a full editing suite: filters, text overlays, stickers, and the ability to create ID photos in various sizes. The standout feature is the AR photo scan — after printing, you can scan the physical photo with the app and it plays the original video clip. It works as a gimmick for gifts but adds genuine value for parents printing memories of young children.

The prints come out slightly less vibrant than KODAK’s 4PASS output, with colours that look a touch muted on some sample sets. The 300 DPI resolution is adequate for small framing and scrapbooking but does not match the sharpness of a 4800 dpi inkjet. The included app setup can be fiddly — you need to enable Bluetooth in phone settings first, then connect via the “Hereprint” app over WiFi, which confuses first-time users.

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The KODAK Dock Plus is a dedicated 4×6 dye-sublimation printer with an integrated phone dock that charges your device while printing. The 4PASS process applies three colour layers (yellow, magenta, cyan) and a clear protective laminate over about 55 seconds per print. The final image is smooth, water-resistant, and resistant to fading — a clear upgrade over traditional inkjet glossy photos that can smear when wet.

Print quality is consistently vibrant, with saturation that rivals lab prints from Walgreens or Walmart. The KODAK Photo Printer app is straightforward: connect via Bluetooth, select your images, edit, and print. The app stays open during the whole print cycle, and you need to tap after each print to continue — a minor workflow interruption if you’re printing more than five photos at a time.

The instruction manual is small and poorly laid out, making the initial setup frustrating for some users. Paper jams are more common than they should be, and loading one sheet at a time for the 4-pass cycle adds friction. The colour balance can run slightly cool (blue-tinted) on some batches of paper, though most users find the results satisfactory for albums, fridge magnets, and casual sharing. This is not a printer for fine-art or framing work.

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The Brother Work Smart 1410 is an all-in-one colour inkjet designed primarily for home offices that need printing, scanning, copying, and faxing. Its print speed of 16 pages per minute in black and 9 pages per minute in colour is exceptionally fast for an inkjet, and the automatic duplex (two-sided) printing saves paper without slowing down much. The 2.7-inch colour touchscreen gives you direct access to cloud apps like Google Drive and Dropbox.

Photo quality is functional rather than impressive. The four-ink system produces vivid colours on glossy paper, but skin tones lack the subtlety you get from a six-ink system, and gradients in skies and shadows show visible banding. For documents with embedded charts and graphics, the output is crisp. For dedicated photo work, it feels like a compromise.

Setup via USB can be problematic — some users report driver issues that take multiple attempts to resolve. The Brother Mobile Connect app works well once configured, providing on-screen ink monitoring and remote printing. The 150-sheet input tray is small for a busy office, and the LC501 ink cartridges, while cheaper than HP equivalents, still add up if you print high volumes of colour documents. Some early production units have been reported to jam after several weeks of use.

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The PIXMA TS7720 is Canon’s entry-level wireless all-in-one, targeting households that need occasional colour prints, copies, and scans without a big investment. The 2.7-inch LCD touchscreen makes navigation straightforward, and automatic duplex printing saves paper on school projects. Speeds of 15 pages per minute in black and 10 pages per minute in colour are competitive at this level.

Photo output is best described as adequate. The two-cartridge system (one black, one tri-colour) cannot produce the same depth as models with separate colour tanks. Colours look less vivid than those from Canon’s five-ink PIXMA models, and the trial cartridges included in the box run out quickly — sometimes after fewer than 20 full-page prints. Glossy 4×6 photos look decent from arm’s length but show visible grain on close inspection.

Connectivity can be a pain point. Setup often requires manual router configuration rather than simple push-button WPS, and the printer defaults to a 4-hour auto power-off that must be changed manually if you want it to stay on. Some users report that the printer often shows “printer not available” on the network, requiring a restart. Ink consumption is relatively high, and the tri-colour cartridge forces you to replace all colours if one runs out, wasting the remaining ink.

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The HP Color LaserJet Pro 3301fdw is a high-speed laser all-in-one built for small offices that produce colour documents, not photo prints. Its TerraJet toner system delivers more vivid colour than previous HP laser generations, making charts, proposals, and marketing materials look punchy. Print speed is 26 pages per minute in both black and colour — roughly double what an inkjet offers — and the automatic duplex scanning ADF handles double-sided originals in one pass.

Photo output is the wrong reason to buy this printer. Laser toner sits on top of the paper rather than being absorbed like ink, which gives glossy photo paper a plastic-like sheen and flattens highlight details. Gradients in skies and skin tones show visible dot patterns (dithering). For occasional photo prints that need to look good in a frame, a sub- inkjet will outperform this laser.

Toner is expensive and the printer actively blocks third-party cartridges via firmware enforcement, locking you into HP’s supply chain. The introductory cartridges run out after roughly 50 pages — far sooner than the standard yield. Some units have suffered from severe colour banding and streaks, and HP support has had difficulty supplying replacement toner for this new model. The MFP 3301fdw is an excellent document printer but a poor choice for photo work.